1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle-use power generation control apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
It is known to improve heat resistance of a vehicle generator mounted within a high-temperature engine room by controlling the power generating operation of the vehicle generator such that components of the vehicle generator, especially a rectifier, a stator winding, and a bearing are prevented from excessively rising in temperature.
As such a control method, it is known to suppress the temperature rises of those components by restricting an excitation current when a temperature of a control apparatus operating to control the power generating operation of the vehicle generator exceeds a predetermined value (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Applications Laid-open No. 60-51421, and No. 4-229100).
However, since there is a temperature difference between the control apparatus and the components of the vehicle generator, which varies depending on the rotational speed and ambient temperature of the vehicle generator, for example, the conventional control method described above cannot always properly suppress the temperature rises of the components of the vehicle generator, and tends to unnecessary restrict the power generation amount of the vehicle generator. Especially, when a vehicle runs in an urban area, a charge and discharge balance could become worse, and an output voltage variation of the vehicle generator could become large, because the temperatures of the components of the vehicle generator frequently changes.